September 27th 2023.
It’s a rather striking split screen today. On one side, President Joe Biden is walking a union picket line, rallying striking autoworkers with a bullhorn and using the word “we”. Meanwhile, his Federal Trade Commission has teamed with 17 attorneys general to sue Amazon for unfair competition. And, finally, under the control of Democratic commissioners, the FCC is moving to restore net neutrality rules undone by the Trump administration.
On the other side, House Republicans are barreling toward a government shutdown for reasons that are still unclear. As Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern asked from the House floor this evening: “Madam Speaker, forgive me, but what the hell is going on here?” Meanwhile, President Trump is skipping the Republican debate to speak at a non-union auto parts company that has nothing to do with the UAW strikes.
It’s a tale of two parties taking unusually divergent governance paths, with Democrats taking meaningful action to protect workers' rights and hold companies accountable, while Republicans are seemingly intent on shutting the government down with no clear agenda.
It’s not all rosy for Democrats, of course. New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez has been indicted for over-the-top levels of corruption, and more than 20 of his colleagues have called for him to resign - yet curiously, not a single Republican senator has done so. Why? Because his number one goal is staying out of prison. He can offer prosecutors the sweetener of resigning now, and he knows it.
We’re headed for a government shutdown on Saturday, September 30th, for no good reason. It’s hard to think of a single person who could benefit from one, except perhaps someone facing federal indictments and hoping to drag out their trial beyond the coming election. For that person, you can see an upside in a shutdown.
Republicans spent Tuesday evening jawing at each other. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz had the night’s best joke, saying that federal spending had devalued the dollar so much you need gold bars to bribe Democratic senators. He also lashed out at Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Twitter, accusing him of paying Republican influencers to trash talk Gaetz and his shutdown effort.
I don’t think people quite have a grasp of how thoroughly absurd the Republican position is on a government shutdown. They previously agreed to a specific deal to fund the government, yet are still pushing for a shutdown. They can’t even pass a bill through their own chamber, the House, that would fund the government.
Let’s take a look at the legislative situation. This all began back in May, when Biden and McCarthy sat down to craft a deal to avert a global financial crisis. The deal was straightforward and announced publicly: The debt ceiling would be lifted until January 2025, and discretionary and military spending for the next fiscal year would be capped at $1.59 trillion. Cuts to spending for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and veterans benefits were off limits.
The holdouts are calling for budget numbers several hundred billion below what was already agreed on, yet the White House has already rejected McCarthy’s suggestion of another meeting. It’s all over but the crying.
The bottom line is this: Republicans have no clear agenda, they’re not even proposing big changes to federal spending, and their only goal appears to be a government shutdown. It’s completely insane, and utterly on them.
Today was a remarkable split screen. On the one hand, Joe Biden became the first president to ever walk a union picket line and his Federal Trade Commission teamed with 17 attorneys general to sue Amazon for unfair competition. On the other hand, the House GOP was barreling towards a government shutdown with no clear goal.
What makes this situation so strange is the Republican party's actions. Despite the fact that the President and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy already worked out a deal to fund the government, the GOP is still pushing for a shutdown with no real demands. It's simply insane.
The only possible benefit of a shutdown for the GOP is that it could potentially help Republicans facing federal indictments drag out their trials until after the election. Other than that, there doesn't seem to be anyone who could benefit from a shutdown.
I think the absurdity of this situation is being overlooked. The debt limit was already lifted until 2025 and the spending for the next fiscal year capped at $1.59 trillion. The White House already agreed to those numbers and will not be negotiating further.
This is an interesting time in politics. Democrats are taking divergent governance paths and Republicans are struggling internally. It's unclear how this will all play out, but one thing is certain: this government shutdown is completely on the Republicans.
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